The Centaur and the Demoness
by Cerv23
Summary: Edith the Centuar teams up with Demoness Artemis to stop an evil force which is stealing souls.
1. Centaur Exile

Disclaimer: Xanth is property to Piers Anthony, though the idea for my character is my idea.

Centaur Exile

Edith was a normal Centaur filly of Centaur Isle. She lived with her dam Chisa and her sire Chim. She had no brothers or sisters, but had plenty of other Centaur playmates. She had the regular Centaur lessons. She knew that having a talent was considered taboo, but never worried about having one.

She had once heard of a Centaur named Chill who was exiled from Centaur Isle for having the talent of freezing water. Though that seemed like it could be a useful talent she didn't quite understand why he had to be exiled.

One particularly clear day she was at the beach with Chag. He showed much interest in her and she being fifteen liked the attention. She glanced around the beach and spotted some drift wood. That was best used when one wanted to make boat because it never sank. The sky was blue and had very few clouds in it. No chance of rain any time soon. She loved the color of the sky, so blue and peaceful.

"Your hair! It's turned blue!" Chag yelled. Edith looked at her hair and he was right. It was blue. In fact it matched the sky too. Then she noticed that not only was her hair/mane turned blue but her tail was too.

"You've got a talent!" Chag yelled and dashed off.

Then it registered. she had a talent. She'd have to leave Centaur Isle. She'd probably never see her dam and sire again.

Later that day the Centaur elders confirmed she had a talent and would have to leave the next morning. She could tell that her parents were disappointed. The next morning she used a raft and crossed the sea to the southern tip of Xanth. Though the Centaurs exiled her unjustly, they didn't leave her without means of survival. She had a pack with three days of food, a dagger, a bow and a quiver with fifteen arrows.

The first day of her exile she decided to travel north, she didn't have a plan of action yet, but she hoped she would come up with one soon. By nightfall, she had traveled a far distance and needed rest. She constructed a enclosure of brush and slept warily of any lurking monsters of the night.

Edith was startled awake by a loud CRACK. She bolted out of the enclosure, but quickly came to her senses. It was just the crack of dawn. She went back and picked up her supplies. It'd be very unwise to leave them, they were her only hope of survival.

She continued trotted until she came to a path. It seemed well used and she decided to would be safe to use. Farther up the path she encountered a large metal, golden star.

"Hello, I'm Edith," she greeted politely.

The star shuddered and it grew an arm. The star lunged at her. It would've grabbed her with it's newly grown arm if she hadn't dashed down the path. Her equine section was good at running fast.

But to her horror, the star was following her. She was running down the path when something grabbed her and pulled her into the nearby bushes. She tried to scream but her capture covered her mouth with their hand.

"Shhh!" Her capture whispered. She fell silent. The star zoomed by an instant later, not stopping. It hadn't seen her.

Her capture uncovered her mouth and led her out of the bushes. She turned and saw that it was another Centaur. More specifically, a male Centaur with very white hair.

"Thanks you for saving me!" She said.

He smiled, "No problem."

"What was that thing?" She asked. He led her a ways down the path and then down a side path.

"That was the long arm of the law. It's very pun-itive. If it caught you it would pun-ish you," he said. Clearly it wasn't a very safe pun.

Edith got curious. "Who are you?"

"Oh. I'm Chill Centaur, and you are?"

Chill! He was the Centaur she had heard of. he would surely understand what she was going through. "I'm Edith. I was exiled from Centaur Isle."

"You were exiled too? What's your talent?" he asked.

She hadn't thought about her talent since she had started her traveling started. "I can change the color of my hair and tail."

She concentrated and her hair/mane and tail turned white, matching Chill's.

"Not a very good talent though," she said sadly. If she was going to be exiled from her family, at least she could've had a decent talent.

"It's not too bad. Can you turn your hair a different color then your tail?" He asked.

Edith mused over it for half a moment. "I don't know. I've never really tried."

Which was true. Just now, was the second time she had used her talent.

"Well, you'll never know until you try," he said smiling.

Edith concentrated on making her hair pitch black and her tail light purple. When she looked her hair was black and her tail was purple. she had done it!

"I wonder. See if you can try to make a pattern, like checkers," he suggested.

Again she concentrated and when she looked her hair was black and red checkered. Her tail was still purple. She returned both to their original brown/reddish color.

"See. It's not that bad a talent," Chill said. She had to agree. It did seem fun, but she was still sad that she probably never see her sire or dam again.

Chill noticed that she was depressed and tried to comfort her. "It'll be alright. You'll survive."

Edith noticed that they had reached a small glade with a Centaur house in the middle of it. A female Centaur with dark red hair came out of it and waved.

"Edith this Char, Char this Edith. she exiled from Centaur Isle," Chill said introducing them.

Char smiled. "You two must be hungry, I just fixed a nice meal. You're welcome to stay the night or as long as you like."

Edith was very grateful and accepted. They ate nicely cooked snap-dragon meat. It turned out that Char's talent was to set anything she touched on fire. It was definitely useful.

During the night a night mare visited her with a bad dream. In it, her sire and dam looked down at her with disgust. They hated her for having a talent. In the dream she tried to explain that it wasn't her fault but they didn't listen.

She woke and found that it was late morning.

Char greeted her with a breakfast composed of fruit. "You're welcome to stay with as long as you like."

Edith had though it over and decided that she had to visit the Good Magician's Castle to ask him what she should do. She told Char and Chill and agreed that that was a wise decision. They gave her a map, more arrows, more food and a fire stone to cook her food.

She headed out, her adventure beginning.

The End

Well, what did you think? Next Edith meets up with Artemis the Demoness and sets aside her quest for the magician to stop an evil human stealing souls with the help of Demoness Mentia.


	2. Demoness

Disclaimer: Xanth is property to Piers Anthony, though the idea for my character is my idea.

Demoness

Edith had made her way up towards Mount Parnassus, but made sure she passed well away from it. If the Maenads didn't get her the Python surely would.

As she walked east around Mount Parnassus she came upon a small black creature, with pointed ears, a long tail, and whiskers that walked on four legs. Edith recognized this as a cat. There were no real cats in Xanth. Xanth did have copy cats, cat-a-pults, pussy willows and other similiar creature, but no realy cat.

Edith would've walked right on and ignored it, but it followed her meowing.

"What do you want feline? You wouldn't want to go with me," she said and walked on.

But the cat was persistent. It kept on trying to get her to go off the trail and follow it.

"What do you want? You want me to follow you?" She asked suspiciously. The cat be part of a dragon's or tangle tree's way of getting someone far away from the path and into it's clutches. But maybe she thought she should follow it. So reluctantly she let the cat lead her to wherever it wanted her to go.

After a half an hour of traveling she came upon a man's body. Edith quickly trotted over to him to see if he was still alive. He was. He appeared to be in his thirties, black hair and mustache, and muscular. He looked like a warrior of some importance although all he wore was cloth rapped around him hastily. But what Edith couldn't figure out was, what was wrong with him. He appeared healthy, but showed signs of some kind of illness.

Edith heard a rustling from the bushes behind. She turned and saw three man-size snakes burst out and lunge at her. She drew her bow and prepared to fire at them when suddenly the cat fizzled into smoke and repapered as a voluptuous woman in a tight fitting dress.

"Stop!" The woman yelled. Two of the snakes stopped in surprise, but the third lunged at the woman instead and bit her. Only she dissolved into smoke unharmed. The snake looked around bemused. The woman reappeared.

To Edith's surprise the three snakes turned into two men and one woman. nagas, Edith thought. That's what they were. It took her a minute to realize that they were all naked. They didn't form clothed when they transformed, like some mermaids who could form legs.

"I am Nido Naga. And these are Nirva Naga and Nee Naga," the naga in charge said. "And you are the Soul Stealer who has stolen our general's soul. You will be punished!"

Edith was taken back. Soul Stealer? What where they talking about.

The woman spoke up, "She's no Soul Stealer. I saw him."

The naga turned to her, "And who are you?"

"I am Demoness Artemis. Since, by accident I received a soul from the Soul Stealer, I have tried to stop him," she said.

"A demoness! We don't want her kind around when we're trying to capture the Soul Stealer," Nirva sneered.

"But I have a soul, so am caring," Artemis said trying to convince them.

Nee stepped forward, "How are we to know you're telling the truth?"

Artemis stopped and though for a minute, "Well, I don't see how I can prove myself."

Edith, who seemed to be the only one who didn't know what was going on almost screamed in frustration. Soul Stealer? What were they talking about? "Who is this Soul Stealer you keep referring to?"

"He, or she," Nido said accusingly at Edith, "has the talent of stealing someone's soul and then can use that person's talent, which is attached to it, later. Nobu naga, here," he said pointing to the body, "was leading a search party, of nagas, to find the Soul Stealer and take care of him or her however necessary."

"We were to meet general Nobu here, and found you, centaur, in the act of stealing his soul!" Nirva indicted.

The demoness spoke up again. "She is innocent. I found the body and went to find someone who could help. A centaur seemed like the perfect choice. Centaurs are well known for being very smart. She can help you stop the Soul Stealer."

"And how did you, demoness, come to meet the Soul Stealer, who supposedly gave you a soul?" Questioned Nee. "She takes souls away!"

He appeared most confident that Edith was the Soul Stealer.

"If you must know, I was going around looking for mischief, as demons do. I spied you and passed on. I figured you'd be a bore. I eventually came upon a human man. He was walking along the path. So, I materialized, forming the most revealing dress that I could without showing my panties. It'd be no fun if I freaked anyone out at the onset. When I tried to seduce him, he was quite adamant that I leave him alone or I'd be sorry. This just got me more curious. So when he said he'd had enough he pointed to me and all of the sudden I felt and cared. I had a soul. Well, the man seemed quite confused and ran off into the woods."

The three Nagas were reserving their judgment until she had finished.

"I happened to notice where the man was standing, there was a piece of wood. I knew there was something about it but couldn't quite place my finger on it. When I went to pick it up I felt all weird and messed up. I immediately dropped the wood chip and felt better. It was a chunk of reverse wood. It had reversed his talent. I then remembered you and your search and knew that he had to be the Soul Stealer. If it hadn't been for that reverse wood I'd have been transported to wherever he keeps his souls because we demons are souls, at least that's what our bodies are made of. So now I have a soul," she concluded.

Nirva spoke first, "I doubt highly that this demoness is the Soul Stealer because demons don't have that kind of power, but I'm not as convinced about the Centaur filly."

"But I can prove she's not the Soul Stealer," Artemis spoke up.

"Oh, and how is that?" Nee asked skeptically.

"Why, easy. Centaur, demonstrate your talent," she said urbanely.

Edith hadn't thought of that. She concentrated and her hair and tail looked like the rainbow. She sported all it's colors.

Nirva gave an 'ah' of appreciation. Edith had to admit, her talent wasn't that bad.

"Everyone knows that a person can't have two talents," said Artemis.

"It does appear that our accusation was false, centaur," Nido admitted. "We apologize."

Edith was relieved. "Apology accepted. And my name is Edith of Centaur Isle. Or I used to be from there."

Nirva was the first to put two-and-two together. "Yes, you have a talent. Centaurs may be one of the smartest creatures in Xanth, but some of them can be so stubborn."

Edith had to smile. Nirva was right.

"Now that you know I'm innocent, this matter of the Soul Stealer. He must be stopped!"

Nido spoke, "your assistance would be very appreciated. Will you too, demoness, help?"

"Of course. Because I have a soul I want to give it to it's rightful owner!" She said.

"Good. Nee, go with Edith and Artemis. Artemis, go where you last saw him and search for him. If you find him send out this flare," he said and handed a small metal container. "We'll be here protecting the body of our general. If we see the flare we'll orientate on it and assist you."

So it was settled. Artemis turned into a cat and curled on Edith's horse back, while Nee, in his snake/human form. The body of a snake and the head of a human. They headed off roughly to where she met the demoness.

"Who exactly is this Soul Stealer? Why is he, stealing souls?" Edith asked.

"From what we know, he's collecting souls with powerful or useful talents so he can take over Castle Roogna. So far he's tried to do so quietly without anyone noticing, but we have," Nee explained.

Two thoughts came to her mind and noticed that a small swarm of thought flies were flying around her rear. She easily swatted them away, but held onto the thoughts.

"Nee?"

"Yes?" He replied.

"I haven't personally seen someone who doesn't have a soul, but aren't they usually as active as souled folk?" She asked.

"Well, yes, but in this case the Soul Stealer's victims remain in a comatose state. It's very strange, but must be part of the magic," explained Nee.

Edith was starting to think she was way over her head. This Soul Stealer sounded very powerful.

She remembered her second thought. "Artemis, if you got one of the Soul Stealer's wouldn't you have a talent also?"

"Why, I never thought of that. I suppose I do," she said thoughtfully.

"Try to find out what it is," Nee suggested.

She concentrated, trying to think what it could be. Suddenly Edith stumbled and she fell off, unhurt because she was a demoness.

"What happened?" Nee asked concerned.

Edith wasn't sure, but it felt like she her foot had passed right through the ground.

"Edith," Nee yelled, "You're leg!"

She looked and it was in a pot. But not just any normal pot. Her leg was halfway in the pot.

"I recognize that! It's a pothole! They're usually found on roads, and like to stumble travelers. They're bottomless from the inside, but on the outside they look normal," Nee explained. "As I understand it, they're in Mundania as well."

Something clicked in Edith's head. "Artemis, your talent! Try it again!"

Artemis shrugged and concentrated. A man form appeared. When Edith looked through it, she saw black. It was a man shaped whole.

"A manhole!" Nee exclaimed.

So it was. "Artemis, I'm betting you're talent is making holes!" Edith said excitedly.

"That must be it!" She said. Then she had pained look on her face. "But it's not my talent! I've got to return this soul to it's rightful owner!"

Artemis was right. They had to stop the Soul Stealer and return all the souls he stole.

Artemis suddenly yelled. "That's him! That's the Soul Stealer!"

Before them, in the forest stood a man. His clothes slightly tattered and bag hanging from his waist, but he looked menacing. He pointed right at Edith. She would have gotten out of the way, but she was too scared. She could feel her soul being torn out of her. It was all over, before it even started.

__

To be continued ...

I hope I've tickled your curiosity!


	3. Mentia

Disclaimer: Xanth is property to Piers Anthony, though the idea for my character is my idea.

Mentia

Artemis had to jump off of Edith's back, when she suddenly fell. The Soul Stealer had her soul.

"Nee! Watch out!" She yelled to the naga as she turned into the human form she preferred. Nee wasn't anywhere around. Artemis was baffled as to where he could've gone, but couldn't muse over it too long because the Soul Stealer was orientating on her.

She fizzed out so he wouldn't know where she was. She quickly reformed behind him and made her arms stretch out and wrap around his neck to choke him. He started to struggle and was prevailing in getting out of her grip. She focused and her arms turned as hard as the scales of a dragon.

While she focused on his neck, he was able to kick her feet out from underneath of her and they fell to the ground. He had gotten free and looked furious at her for trying to kill him. She had to think of something fast.

_'If I can escape I can bring reinforcements,'_ she thought. Then, _'the can! Where is it?'_

Suddenly a Giant snake seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of her. It lunged at the Soul Stealer, mouth wide and fangs gleaming. And just as fast the snake stopped and fell over, just as Edith had.

But Artemis hadn't wasted the diversion. She had sought out the can the nagas had given them and snuck off to think of a plan.

'If I release the flare, he'll be able to find me, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. The problem is keeping him here long enough for Nirva and Nido to get here,' thought Artemis. She was about twenty feet away from the Soul Stealer in a safe cache behind an umbrella bush.

If she had someone else's help she figured she could stall the Stealer long enough for the other nagas to arrive. She'd need someone crazy enough to help her.

"D. Mentia!" Artemis whispered as loudly as she dared.

A gaseous form appeared. Two eyes formed and they focused on Artemis with annoyance. A mouth form and it spoke, "what do you want?"

"I need your help. You could cause tons of mischief," she said hoping to convince her.

She had gotten her attention now. The gas formed into a humanoid shape, and then a woman. A woman wearing shoes on her hands, gloves on her feet and a dress upside-down.

"Mentia. You clothes," Artemis said slightly annoyed. Demoness Mentia was Demoness Metria's worse half. After Metria married and got half a soul, Mentia split from her. Where as Metria had a speech impediment, Mentia was slightly crazy.

Mentia looked at her clothes and they beclouded out and back in correctly.

"Now, what about me being able to cause mischief?" She asked with curiosity.

"There's a human man over there," Artemis explained pointing to the Stealer. "Just distract him for as long as you can. But beware. He can steal souls, and we demons are only souls!"

"Hmm. Does sound dangerous," Mentia said with a furrowed brow.

"Well you've done dangerous things before. What about that Gary Gar and helping those mundanes to the top of Mount Parnassus?" She asked.

"You have a point. I'll help." Mentia became smoke and disappeared.

Almost immediately she heard a startled yelp. She looked over the bush and saw the Soul Stealer trying to get his foot out of a brown goo. No matter what he tried he couldn't get out. And on top of that it was climbing higher, engulfing more and more of his leg. Before she knew it, it had gone up his leg and spreading.

Artemis then realized that the 'goo' was Mentia. The Stealer wouldn't ever suspect it. As long as he didn't know the 'goo' was a creature with a soul, of a sorts, he wouldn't think of using his talent on it.

Artemis then remembered the can. She turned it over and saw one end had some kind of a metal ring. She pulled it and a red flare burst out and flew up into the sky and burst. Red sparks covered the sky. She wondered if the Stealer had seen or not. If she was lucky, he hadn't.

She listened and heard quietness. What had happened to Mentia? Suddenly the Stealer burst through the bushes and pointed at her. She rolled and kicked at him. She scored, but not as she had hoped. She hit him in his leg and he fell over. He was dazed long enough for Artemis to think.

Where was Mentia? She had to do something, but what? Her talent. She could use her talent! What was it? Holes. She had already created a pot hole and a man hole. What would be useful? She had to try something. She concentrated, but nothing happened. She was doomed. The nagas wouldn't arrive to help her for another hour.

The Stealer got back up and stood over her. He pointed at her and she felt a wrenching sensation and knew what was happening.

Then, unexpectedly, a giant snake slithered foreword and bit the Stealer's leg. He fell to the ground in agony.

"My leg! I'll get you!" He yelled at the snake and pointed. The snake bit his torso, blood dripped to the ground. The snake let the body drop to the ground. The snake then turned into a man, Nido. Another snake slithered up and turned into Nirva.

"Is he dead?" She asked cautiously.

Artemis got up and looked at the body. Blood was everywhere. If he wasn't dead, he had to be close to it.

"How did you get here so fast?" Artemis asked. They shouldn't have gotten here this fast.

"I don't know. We saw the flare and came her as quickly as we could. It seems we shouldn't have gotten here as soon as we did," Nido said.

"I did try to use my talent," she murmured. "Maybe it worked."

"Now. We have to see to the stolen souls!" Nido said.

"Artemis, where's Nee?" Asked Nirva.

"The Soul Stealer got him," Artemis said.

"Well, all we have to do is reverse what the Stealer did. I have figured that he could not have held the souls within him. he must have kept them in some kind of a container, but very close by so he could use them," Nido speculated.

Artemis thought for a minute and remembered the pouch, she had seen on the Stealer's waist. She bent down and pulled the pouch off of the belt around the body's waist. "This has to be where he keeps the souls he takes."

She stood up and cautiously opened it. What looked like white glowing balls of light flew out and away. Many souls flew away. The Soul Stealer had captured many.

A gas also escaped and formed into Mentia.

"You rally owe me! He found out!" She yelled angrily and disappeared. Artemis had to smile.

Artemis and the two nagas quickly went over to where Edith and Nee lay on the ground.

They stirred and slowly got up.

"What ... what happened?" Edith asked as she got her equine party of her body standing.

The snake turned into the naga's human/snake form, somewhat dazed.

"The Soul Stealer has been stopped!" Nirva cheered.

"Really?" Edith asked surprise.

"Yes!" Artemis cheered.

"Oh, I'm so glad!"

* * *

Back at where Edith had found Nobu Naga, the four nagas, centaur and demoness had gathered.

"You're help has been invaluable," Nobu said saluting Edith and Artemis.

Edith and Artemis were both flattered they thought so. Edith most of all, because she had hardly helped at all.

"We really must go. But if you should ever need our help, glow this whistle. It's magic and we'll be able to hear it anywhere," Nirva said handing Edith a small metal whistle hanging on a cord. She gladly excepted it and they departed.

"Artemis," Edith started thinking. "Do you still have your soul?"

Artemis was startled and realized it was so. "I do."

"Then we need to find it's owner. And maybe, where the Stealer's bag?" Edith asked.

Artemis realized that she still had it. She gave it to Edith who opened it and put her hand in it feeling around.

"Just as I thought. There's another soul in here. It didn't go like the others did. It's possible it doesn't know where to go. I figured maybe one or two souls may not have 'flown' away. We'll have to deliver this one and yours personally," she explained.

Artemis wasn't sure how so asked. "How will we know where they go?"

Edith brought out the soul. "It's tugging slightly. Approximately north."

It was settled. They'd deliver the one soul first then worry about Artemis'. Their adventure together began.

__

To be continued ...

Review please! Flames won't be tolerated!!!

Oh, and for those of you who didn't figure it out, when Artemis used the talent she conjured a plot hole. :)


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